First food security conference held today in West Des Moines

The first ever “Iowa Food Security Conference” gets underway today (Monday) in West Des Moines. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Patty Judge is one of the organizers of the conference. She says it’s a beginning effort to safeguard the state’s food supply in a collaborative effort between the Department of Agriculture, Department of Inspections and Appeals, Iowa Emergency Management, and the Iowa Farm Bureau. Judge says they’re bringing in experts from across the nation to talk about food safety. Judge says there’s a lot to discuss. She says they have to talk about biological warfare targeted at agriculture, security guidelines for processing plants and farms. Judge says they don’t have the luxury of concentrating on one thing.She says they don’t know what form a threat may take so they have to use a “shotgun” approach to cover every possibility. Judge says the conference is another way the state can be prepared. She says they don’t anticipate any sort of terrorist threats in Iowa, but they have to be ready to respond if it does happen. The conference runs today through tomorrow.